fret boards, cigar boxes, keyed miter jig...

New miter key jig.

I split my day today between the Clear Spring School wood shop and my own. At school, 4th, 5th and 6th grade students practiced on the scroll saw by cutting their initials from wood. My high school students worked on fret boards, both cutting grooves for frets, and also doing inlay as is required on the 3rd, 5th, 7th, 9th, 12th, and 15th frets. They also worked on making the cigar boxes using the router jig made for the article in American Woodworker last summer.

In my own shop, I've been cutting mitered corners for boxes and also made a new keyed miter jig to hold the boxes flat against the fence and at the right angle as the key slots are cut. Making these 300 boxes efficiently requires a slightly different set-up than I've used in the past. So 15 minutes making a new jig is time well spent. It might in fact shave a minute or more off the making of each box.

In this jig, a piece of plywood slides along the fence and two pieces of wood interlock with the fence rail to hold the jig in exact position as it slides back and forth. Blocks with 45 degree angle cuts are attached to the plywood slid to hold the box in position and at the right angle as it slides over the blade. The procedure is simple. Nest a corner of the box in the jig, and make the first cut. Lift the box and turn it for the next cut as the jig is slid back to the starting point. Cut each corner in the same manner.

Make, fix and create...